China’s Foray into African Security and the Question of Non-Interference

Abstract

Historically, China-Africa relations have been dominated by economic rationales and the policy of non-interference has restricted its engagement in African peace and security. However, in the past two decades, Beijing’s contribution towards African peace and security has dramatically expanded. In this paper, we seek to ascertain the factors behind China’s growing role in African security at the multilateral, continental, sub-regional and national levels and how it has impacted on China’s foreign policy of non-interference. The paper argues that although the policy of non-interference was a workable model in the 1950s, it is not in sync with current realities. Therefore, Beijing needs to rethink its policy of non-interference in order to protect its economic investments and political interests, which have come under threat in recent years. Undeniably, the increasing role of China also has important implications for the policy and interests of other external actors on the African continent such as the United States of America, the European Union (EU), India, and Canada. To this end, the paper concludes by exploring ways in which China can collaborate and coordinate its activities with these actors to foster sustainable peace and security on the African continent.